North’s future in doubt after claim ‘he didn’t want to play’
George North’s Northampton future remained shrouded in uncertainty last night after the club were unable to shed further light on the suggestion by their technical coaching consultant Alan Gaffney that the Wales wing did not want to play in this match.
Unlike England pair Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes, North was available for club duty, but Gaffney questioned his commitment when he was asked to explain his absence in a post-match radio interview. “That’s a very difficult question to answer for me. I haven’t spoken to George personally,” Gaffney said.
“In one sense, it’s probably best to ask George. We picked a side that actually wanted to be out on the pitch and picked the best side for the game for Northampton.”
Northampton were asked to comment on the reasons for North’s absence and whether he is likely to face disciplinary action, but declined to do so.
As North is due to return to Wales in the summer on a dual contract with the Welsh Rugby Union, his time with Northampton is limited. For the next two weekends he will be away on international duty with Wales, so his next scheduled club appearance will be at Newcastle on March 24.
Gaffney was clearly upset by Northampton’s limp display, which saw them concede 31 points in the first half, and slammed their performance as “pathetic” and “abysmal”.
Without North, Sale wing Denny Solomona enjoyed himself by running in a first-half hat-trick of tries, with Marland Yarde scoring the bonus-point try before half-time.
Solomona has scored five tries in Sale’s past two matches and is the in-form wing in the 33-man England squad that reported to Pennyhill Park last night to prepare for the Natwest Six Nations clash against France in Paris.
“It’s always good to be in the squad. I have learnt a lot over the last three or four weeks that I have been in the Six Nations squad,” Solomona said.
“All I can do is train well. I will leave the selection up to Eddie [Jones, England head coach]. It’s up to him whether he chooses me or not. If he does, then I will do my job and execute well. Hopefully I can take this performance and replicate it on the international scene.
“It’s credit to the boys here. They were good with me when I first came over from rugby league. We’ve got a few new signings this year and a few guys have extended their contracts as well.
“I have just signed on for four more years. I love it. I haven’t wanted to go elsewhere, me and Dimes [Steve Diamond, Sale’s director of rugby] have a good relationship going. He’s quite honest and I’m quite honest as well, so it’s just a perfect match.
“There are always things to work on and that’s a good thing. There’s never a perfect athlete and it’s good that I still have things to learn.” two minutes